Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington → Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington to Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 102.6 to 103.6 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $29/mo.
- +$2,840
- BLS median salary higher in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 250 to 277
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13:1 to 13.4:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
BEA Regional Price Parity, HUD Fair Market Rent, BLS OEWS, FBI UCR, NCES, and DOL. The table below lets you override the composite with your own priorities.
Pros of Moving
- + $3K higher median salary
- + Fewer environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 102.6 to 103.6 (ratio 1.01), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent barely moves ($1,810 → $1,781); the housing line is not the swing factor on this corridor.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (3 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin sits #329 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington is #279/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $2,840 higher ($74,260 → $77,100). Labor-market size: 2,874,190 tracked jobs at origin vs 4,480,500 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Pennsylvania 65 (C, #18/51) vs Illinois 58 (D, #31/51). Full state tax and healthcare sub-scores sit in the retirement desk below.
State retirement friendliness
Primary-state scores from PlainRelocate's retirement registry (tax + healthcare + climate composite). Metro pairs use each metro's primary state abbreviation.
- Income tax
- 95
- Property tax
- 58
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 72
- Income tax
- 95
- Property tax
- 46
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 46
Full retirement ranking · Source composite documented on methodology (Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides + federal healthcare/climate inputs).
Salary Adjustment Calculator
Enter your current salary in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington to see what you'd need to earn in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin to maintain the same purchasing power.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro profile · Livability rankings · Methodology
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA; retirement desk: Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides June 2026